Carol DeLancey is a Bike Gallery customer who grew up in Oregon, but moved two years ago to Loulé, a small city in the Algarve region of Portugal. She is a Cycle Oregon regular and is helping her partner train for this year’s event in Portugal’s incredible sunny weather.
Much has been said and written about how perfect the Trek FX line is for riders who want to keep up with the road bikes, but not be forced into the bent-over position that roadies employ. But those reviews usually assume some aptitude on the part of the FX rider. How appropriate is this bike for total beginners?
The short answer is: though a few things could be improved, it’s a winner.
We bought an FX 7.6 for my partner Maria, who hasn’t slung a leg over a bike in a decade or so. And even when she did ride, her experience was limited to cruisers. She was extremely intimidated by the idea of having any gears at all, much less 27 of them. She was also pretty frightened of going downhill any faster than she could run, and most of all she was worried about sitting on a saddle for lengthy periods of time. Yet for all this, she signed up for Cycle Oregon this year.
The Trek FX 7.6 is a capable, comfortable bike. One distinct advantage of this model over the others is the rich blue color!
Obviously we needed a bike that would not only enable her to ease into the sport, but also be fast, light and stable enough to grow with her and perform well on Cycle Oregon. We narrowed the search down to the Orbea Aneto (similar to the Diem), the Specialized Sirrus, and the Trek FX. In the end we chose the Trek because it fit well and had the best combination of features for the price. And also because it’s blue.
The FX was a revelation for Maria. She was instantly comfortable on it, more comfortable than she’d expected to be. The FlexForm saddle design, which pivots slightly with each pedal stroke, is the greatest thing ever for beginner riders. Maria hasn’t even had a twinge. (I think about all those spring rides where I had to clench my teeth and pay my dues, and am frankly a little envious of her gentle introduction to this concept.) On the down side, the flexy part also creaks on each stroke.
The upright riding position and flat bar is very easy for new riders to get used to; much easier than drop bars. And the bike is stable despite its light weight, allowing Maria to quickly build confidence in her descents. The carbon fork and elastomer insert in the seat stay, in combination with the FlexForm saddle, really do dampen road vibration. (Note: the 7.7 and 7.9 models add a carbon seat post for even more dampening.)
The position of the brake levers and shifters are easy to adjust, requiring nothing more than the loosening of a single allen bolt. That made it simple to rearrange them to fit Maria’s small hands. And the faceplate on the stem makes removing the bar for transport a matter of unscrewing two allen bolts and letting the face plate drop off. No need to take the stem out of the frame.
The gear indicators show that this bike is currently in one of its lowest gears. But the display is counterintuitive, since lower gears are on the left side of the crankset/cassette, not the right. A homemade gear chart helps a newbie rider remember what the indicators are saying.
Also on the handlebar is a feature designed specifically for beginners: a pair of gear indicators to let the rider know exactly which chainrings and rear cogs are being used. In theory this is a great idea, but Shimano’s implementation is counterintuitive, at least to us. The indicators show an orange line on a black background, which moves to the right for lower gears and to the left for higher gears. It would make so much more sense if the indicators moved in the same direction as the chain, which of course travels to the left for lower gears and to the right for higher ones. Continually stymied by the gear indicators (and not yet confident enough to check the chain’s position by sight), Maria finally resorted to making a little chart on pieces of masking tape and fixing them to her bars.
I also question Trek’s choice of gears for this bike. The 7.5 model is obviously designed for easier climbing, with its 48/36/26 crankset. The 7.6, however, has a standard roadie 50/39/30 crankset, and combines this with a 9-speed 11-26 cassette. This gives a low gear of 30×26, which is a hard gear for a beginner to push uphill. If you go up the line to the 7.7 or 7.9 models, you get a 10-speed 12-27 cassette. So the 7.6 has a higher low gear than any of the other top FX models. The gearing is great for flats and rolling hills, but we live in a steeply hilly area — and Cycle Oregon is famous for its climbs. We will probably be changing out the inner chain ring in order to give Maria the gears she needs.
The pedals, on the other hand, are genius. They’re regular flat pedals on one side, and have Shimano SPD-compatible clips on the other. This enables a new rider to get plenty comfortable on the bike before venturing into the world of clipless pedaling. And when the time comes to try going clipless, there’s no need to buy new pedals, which makes the prospect easier on both the pocketbook and the sense of mental preparation.
One drawback to the design of this bike’s frame (and true of any bike with a small triangle, not just the FX) is that it only fits one water bottle. That’s probably not an issue for most people, but for riding in Portugal, it’s definitely a problem. It’s also a problem in Cycle Oregon, which mandates two water bottles. Fortunately, there are inexpensive ways to mount bottle cages to handlebars and seatposts.
As a bike for a beginner, the Trek FX 7.6 shines in many ways — the light weight, stability, vibration dampening features, cushy saddle, upright position, easily adjusted brake levers/shifters and genius pedals are all perfect for a rider just entering the world of cycling. The down sides are the counterintuitive gear indicators and the non-beginner rear cassette.
Overall, I expect that this bike will be with us for a long time, growing with Maria as she gains strength and confidence. And that was the whole point of choosing the FX.
18 Comments
Hi,
Thanks for your article. I’m looking to move from a road bike to a hybrid to avoid strains on my back and shoulders. Did your friend look at look at Specialized or Cannondale hybrids? The Specialized Sirrus expert seems to be similar and has a few extra features. I’m trying to get maximum road speed without having drop handlebars and a race geometry. Thank you.
Specialized geometry here, Trek geometry here. They look pretty similar size-wise. Specs look very similar as well. Try ‘em both!
I bought the Trek FX 7.6 Women’s bike in 2008. I immediately put 1000 miles on it and now I’m in the 2nd season with it and I just love it. Odd to hear it called a “beginner” bike. I rode with an experienced coach who rode a fancy Bianchi, and as long as I was feeling strong that day, I didn’t have any trouble keeping up with him. Good choice all around.
Very informative. How big a difference does the gearing on the 7.5 make in climing hills and about how much should it cost to change the inner gear ring? My wife recently bought the 7.6 FX WSD and is really enjoying it. We have only recently been tackling hills, however, and they are challenging. I am curious how much easier climing would be with the gearing used on the 7.5 FX and whether it is worth the cost of changing. Thanks for any suggestions.
Gordy:
It might be a bit late to answer your question, but I just came across it. We ended up not changing out the inner chainring, due to finding an easier and cheaper solution: simply replacing the rear cassette with one that had a better range of gears (11-32T, actually a mountain bike cassette). Since the FX 7.6 already has a long-cage rear derailleur, able to handle the longer chain necessary for that ultra-low gear, the cassette and the chain were the only things we had to replace. A Shimano Deore 11-32T cassette can be had for less than $35.
The result was two additional low gears, including one that Maria hardly even uses because it can pretty much go straight up a brick wall. She now has zero problems on steep hills, while I huff along beside her in my more “normal” road bike gear range. Shimano recently came out with a new 11-28T cassette in its Ultegra 6700 grouping, and I’m giving serious thought to buying one…
Yohanna, my reason for calling the FX a “beginner bike” is that its frame geometry, upright riding position and other features allow a newbie to start out with very little confidence, and not be intimidated by the bike itself. This in no way detracts from the ability of the bike to keep more advanced riders happy, and in fact that’s one of the reasons we chose it — as an investment that Maria will still enjoy riding five years from now, when she’s left her beginner days long behind her. I can tell you that it performed very well for her during Cycle Oregon, and hers wasn’t the only FX we saw on that ride!
Hi Carol,
in Oct. 2009 I purchased a 7.6 FX WSD (17″ frame) and for the most part, I love it. However, I get a pain in my right shoulder (only the right one!) when going on long rides and I am wondering if you know what I might be doing wrong or what adjustments I might make, or…could I have possibly bought the wrong size frame (I am 5’7″)? Also wondering if your partner’s tires are “cracking” along the sidewalls? I’ve noticed this on mine and it is kind of disturbing as I have only put on about 800 miles. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
ALSO…I hate that there is only one water cage! Can you recommend a model name/number for a cage that works best on either the seat post or the handlebars for the 7.6 fx?
(thanks again)
The comments above highlight a problem that is industry wide: failure to design bikes for SPECIFIC TERRAIN and SPECIFIC USERS. I have some dissatisfactions with the fitness hybrids.
The fitness hybrids like the Trek FX and Specialized Sirrus don’t go far enough. For starters, millions of people in the U.S. live in mountainous or steep terrain and need full mountain gears on their hybrid. That means 22-32-44 front and 11-34 rear, or about 17″ to 90″. Those riders are forced to change the chainrings and cassettes of their bikes, usually at great expense.
The industry is driven by its appeal to young, fit riders. That’s unfortunate, because people over 45 are the ones who have the most disposable income. They are less fit and need easier gears.
Second, the flat bar on these bikes is terrible for your wrists. It admits only one hand position, which requires twisting the wrist unnaturally.
Third, I’ve never seen a decent seat on one of these bikes. Another thing to replace.
The tires on the Trek FX series are terrible for anything but paved roads. They have zero tread.
What’s with the horrible colors this year? MATTE black, brown, grey, white. Are we in a national depression? I want my bike to be uplifting.
It’s ridiculous to have only one water bottle cage. Trek advertizes that you can “hit the open road” with the FX, implying long rides. Well, Trek, we need WATER for our long rides.
Why am I ranting? Because I’ve been an avid biker for the last 50 years and can no longer find a decent bike. I’m tired of trying to convince bike shops to install the components I need at a reasonable price. The industry has the technology to create a fabulous, light, comfortable hybrid with TRUE wide-range gearing, but they choose instead to tell consumers what the current style is—fixies, drab colors, road gearing on hybrids, etc etc. The only company that comes close to designing bikes for real people is Breezer, and they’re too small for consumers to even find their bikes.
Very frustrating.
To Susan above: Shoulder pain can be caused by an existing anatomical problem like arthritis that is aggravated by the wrong bike set-up, specifically too much weight on the arms, or possible also a handlebar that is too narrow or too wide. The fitness hybrids are not as upright as advertized. If your hands are too far forward you will have too much weight on your hands and shoulders. About your cracked tires: I would replace them immediately, before they fail.
Hi. These posts have been very informative. I am: Male, 65, 6′, 165#, relatively fit. Haven’t been on a bike in, well, a VERY long time. I have been seriously considering ordering a Trek 7.6. Riding area will be primarily pretty flat, but there are options for some hills. (The Tour of California Stage 5 ended here with three laps up the hill that would most likely be climbed at some future time as it’s the road back to town.)
Any thoughts on whether the 7.6 is, or is not, the bike for me.
To everyone that happens to be upset about the lack of another place to put a water bottleandvits cage, I Have two words to solve your issuesc. They are CAMEL BAK. I never leave home without it!
The mens model of the 7.6fx (at least the ’09) has mounting points for two bottle cages – admittedly the seat tube one doesn’t offer much clearance from the inner chain ring on my medium-size frame. It looks to me like that the smaller triangle on the WSD womens’ models makes fitting two bottles within the frame impractical.
I purchased the Trek WSD 7.5 in the summer of ’09 and completed my first Cycle Oregon with it at age 61 in September 2010. I was one of the last into camp each day–partly because I stopped a lot to take photos, but also because the bike does not go as fast downhill as the road bikes and can’t go uphill as fast because of its weight. In fairness to the bike, though, I added fenders and a rack to it, which added weight.
Overall, though, I love my bike so much because it’s beautiful, versatile, and comfortable. I used the lowest gears a lot on Cycle Oregon when climbing mountains (and out of that awful canyon), but my bike made it through the week without begging for the sag wagon. I probably got better exercise than those on the fancy road bikes, too! I didn’t have any problems with my back or neck or knees because I had a bike fit done early on. I think it’s a wonderful bike, although I’m considering purchasing a new road bike to use for future Cycle Oregons and those long training rides in the summer.
I have 2009, Blue 7.6FX its a 15″ frame, and have not rode much and would like to sell, please contact at kmwebster@yahoo.com
The FX 7.6 is NOT a beginners bike, it is an intermediate bike, the 7.1 and the 7.2 are the beginners bikes in this series. I have a 7.3 and I love it and have zero issues. If extra power is what you need, Trek now makes the FX+ which has supplemental electric power.
I’ve been riding a trek 7.6 for 2 years and think it’s a great bike. It hurts a little when i get to 40 miles, but my knees always hurt when I do any exercise for more than 2 hours, and so does my back.
I bought it because I like to be upright, and I wanted a bike with decent components and light frame I could ride on the road. I added small climbing bars (3-4 inches) and they help you alter wrist position and stretch forward a little.
i don’t really see the gearing as an issue, tho I don’t really use the little front ring anymore. Now I’d like it to be a 38-52, or something like that.
Also, I don’t consider it a beginner bike, it costs too much.
I have a 7.2 i ride in the summer at a vacation home and for commuting, the 7.2 is a beginner bike, I put thinner tires on it, but it still has that heavy frame. I rode it to work the other day, too early in the season , still snow on the bike path, but saturday when everything major had melted and it was warm (well, 48) I busted out the 7.6 for a hilly first of my outdoor season 20 miler on a favorite ride and had a blast.
Now I’m thinking of upgrading to some sort of carbon road bike, because I’m getting better, but I really like the flat bar.
I’m sure it’ll make me faster, but I can keep up with roadies (slower ones, but I’m kind of big) on my 7.6. i think it’s a great bike and have been very happy with it.
My frends,i want to buy the bike Trek
I realize a lot of these post are old, however I really enjoyed everyone’s comments and questions. I purchased a 7.6 in 2009 – (loved the Carrera Blue). I’m not too interested in full on drop bars or doing long rides on a full road bikes but wanted something to go down the bike paths with and around the neighborhood etc. I’m about 5’09″ 180lbs an have the 20″ size. It’s not quite as fast as a full road bike but not too much slower and feels really speedy. The flat bars make it a little sensitive and even twitchy going downs hills at speed – probably because of the amount of leverage you get with the flat bars. It’s a very versatile bike and someone mentioned it not being very good off the black top and I have one thing to say – it’s not a mountain bike or even a hybrid. The lower models have slightly wider tread and more of it than the 7.6 – 7.9 but even those bikes aren’t really meant for being used off road. The lower FX bikes with slightly wider tires and more tread are for those times when your path turns into gravel occassionally etc, they’re not meant to be used as a dedicated off road bike.
Bar ends would solve the wrist problem if you only had the option after going on long rides to just change positions now and then. Giant did it with their performance hybrid.
Overall I’m pretty satisfied with mine. The front deraileur has trim adjustment between using lower and higher gears in the rear but getting it adjusted just right is touchy. The squeaky flex seat is fine and doesn’t squeak if it’s tightend up under the saddle, but could still be a little softer I think anyway. Recently my seat post broke loose from the top of the stem and it was replaced uner warranty which leads me to a question.
It was my understanding my seat post on my 2009 7.6 was carbon fiber the specs say it’s a race lite basic however a new race lite appears to be an aluminum post. Can anyone tell me if there 2009 7.6 seat post is carbon fiber or not?
If I had to pick on one more thing about it the grips failed to stay in place and started moving on the bars which is annoying. Tried using some adhesive spray which seems to help.
On another note my girlfriend has a 15″ 7.2 2010 FX, she’s 5’06″ and she really likes it despite the missing features that appear on my 7.6 like the iso zone, carbon forks, single sided clipless pedals, flex seat and of course the higher level deraileurs and faster tires and wheels. Still works pretty well and will probably at least upgrade the tires and grips. Just doesn’t pay to invest too much when the bike was only 500 to begin with. If anyone has a 15″ mens or 17″ WSD 7.6 and want to sell it I’d be interested in making an offer. Last thought, it’s overall a great bike unless you’re a hard core roadie and really need a dedicated road bike. It’s definitely not meant for off road use, if it was it wouldn’t come equipped with tires that use 100lbs of air pressure. Even the 7.2 tires use 80lbs of air pressure – that said it should be obvious it’s not meant to be used as an off road bike. My suggestion, if you need a bike similar to the FX to go off road occassionally, get a 29er mountain bike and equip it with a fast rolling hybrid tire and / or put a Bontrager LT3 on it for light trails. You could also put the LT3 in a 700c configuration on the FX as well if you already have one. That tire will fit on the FX and will provide enough traction for a light trail. One last thing yes it does have a second postion for another water bottle cage but I agree with the Camelbak idea. Any questions I’d be happy to give my two cents otherwise I’d love to hear about what kind of seat post is on your 7.6.
Hi Keith..
I have a 2009 Trek 7.6 fx WSD 17″ (in white) i would like to sell. It has been well maintained and is in great shape. I am ready to upgrade to a real road bike. if interested, email me a t: signmker at yahoo
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